Anything that’s got the letter “A” haphazardly slapped in front of it indicates a couple of things. The first is the whole phone-book-placement advantage, and the second is usually a guarantee of subpar quality. A-Pizza Marts are scattered around the city, some just delivery outlets, others cheap eat-in restaurants. My experience with them has usually taken place over the phone in the waning hours of the night, spurred by way too much whiskey and a severe lack of late-night food options in the city. Until now. University Way’s A-Pizza Mart has been completely transformed. The decor has gone from low-budget cafeteria to a pizza party in someone’s finished basement—almost like a kitschy Capitol Hill theme bar, but without any shred of irony. Bright lights and a lonely counter have been replaced with darkness punctuated by the twinkle of Christmas lights and a bar (!) that serves hard liquor. Random records adorn the wall, plastic vines of artificial flowers up the tackiness factor (in a good way), and a well-worn, overstuffed couch brings it all together. The only thing that’s missing is a gaming system. The pizza still rates just higher than a frozen Totino’s, but it’s cheap. Besides, nothing gourmet belongs in a finished basement anyway. “A” now stands for Awesome. At least in this book. 5026 University Way N.E., 517-4000.